President Vladimir Putin appeared to completely lose his temper in a recent call with the country's trade and industry minister, Denis Valentinovich Manturov - as the Russian government convened for their first meeting of 2023.
The 70-year-old leader - who has run the country since 2012 - had the call streamed on Russian TV, and continued to interrupt Manturov as the 53-year-old explained his ministry's plans for planes, boats, and helicopters. The footage shows Manturov repeatedly interrupted by the President, who questioned why there had been delays in ordering civilian and military planes.
Manturov - who has been a loyal member of the Putin government since 2012 - has been overseeing Russia's weapons industry since the summer of 2022, BBC News detailed.
"Denis Valentinovich, Denis Valentinovich, Denis Valentinovich," the President repeated several times to cause Manturov to stop talking.
"You have everything ready, except for the contracts. I am telling you, let's finish this meeting now. Why are we picking on each other? I know there are no contracts at the companies, the directors told me," he stated, via The Independent.
"What are you fooling around for?" he added. "When will there be contracts? That is what I'm asking. "
He interrupted Manturov again, saying: "These 700 aircraft, including helicopters... you need to sort this out with the defense ministry... several enterprises still haven't received any orders."
Manturov explained that he and his ministry had started a program to produce helicopter engines in Russia that were previously made in Ukraine, but Putin interrupted him once more to complain that it was taking far too long. "No, do it within a month. Don't you understand the situation we're in? It needs to be done in a month, no later," he argued.
The footage from the call can be seen below:The tense meeting comes amid news that Putin replaced his top commander in Ukraine, Gen Sergei Surovikin, after just three months in charge.
Almost one year ago in late February, Putin's troops invaded neighboring Ukraine in an escalation of a wider conflict that began in 2014. At the time, the President claimed that the invasion was necessary to "demilitarize and denazify" Ukraine, per Deutsche Welle.
Reuters has since estimated that approximately 14 million people have been displaced, as Ukrainian citizens fled to countries across Europe for their safety.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak held a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy earlier this week, where he indicated that the UK would send Ukraine some of its battle tanks and artillery support.
According to a spokesperson for Sunak (via Reuters): "The leaders reflected on the current state of Russia's war in Ukraine, with successive Ukrainian victories pushing Russian troops back and compounding their military and morale issues."